James Reimer returned to the Maple Leafs crease on Thursday night, all set to lead his teammates to victory.

But like everyone else on the ice wearing a white Leafs sweater against the New York Islanders, Reimer had just a bit role in what quickly became the Nazem Kadri Show.

In a brief scrum with reporters at 5 p.m., Kadri, who can be as blunt as he is confident, told those gathered that the match would be “a big statement game,” given the team’s slipshod performance a night earlier in Toronto against the Montreal Canadiens.

We didn’t know at the time that Kadri’s slick talent would be making the biggest statement in the form of a hat trick, the first one for a Leaf at Nassau Coliseum since Paul Henderson did it exactly 39 years earlier.

But the Leafs, who didn’t have a great game defensively, needed a goal by captain Dion Phaneuf at 1:11 of overtime to win 5-4 in a penalty-free match and stay in coach Randy Carlyle’s good books. Phaneuf skated off the side boards and his shot squeezed past goalie Evgeni Nabokov on the stick side.

Afterward, though, most of the talk was about the 22-year-old Kadri, who leads the Leafs in scoring with 21 points (including 16 at even-strength) in 22 games.

“Tonight was the best he has probably been in a long time,” Carlyle said. “Outside of scoring goals, he was dependable defensively, did not turn the puck over, and he is a scrappy player.

“We had a special performance from Nazem Kadri. Always nice to see a young player deliver in those situations.”

It was Kadri’s first hat trick at the professional level and helped make the Leafs forget they coughed up a two-goal lead in the third period.

“It felt great,” Kadri said. “I started to get a little nervous at the end. They are a push-back team and give them credit, they pushed all the way to the end. That is a crucial second point we got.

“Randy has complete trust in me and knows if he is throwing me out in the last minute, I am not going to make costly mistakes and I am no longer a liability.”

The Leafs carried a 4-2 lead into the final period, but like Kadri said, the Islanders refused to go away. Kyle Okposo got the tying goal at 10:08 when he blocked a Mark Fraser shot at the Isles blue line and raced the length of the ice to beat Reimer high. Andrew MacDonald got the Islanders to within one when he blasted a one-timer into the net at 5:31.

Kadri didn’t just go to the net and knock a bunch of lose pucks past Nabokov. Before an announced crowd of 9,222 — is there a more depressing arena in the NHL? — Kadri made a mess of the Islanders defence corps.

The topper was his third goal, when he turned veteran Lubomir Visnovsky inside out and scored low to Nabokov’s stick side.

“I kind of tried to burn the D-man wide and I saw him pivot,” Kadri said, “and as soon as I saw that I flipped the puck into the inside and was able to go far side.”

James van Riemsdyk also scored for the Leafs, who became the first NHL team to win nine road games this season (though Chicago did it later in the night). Reimer made 23 saves in his first game since Feb. 11, when he suffered a knee injury against Philadelphia.

Josh Bailey and Visnovsky also scored for the Islanders. John Tavares did not have a point.

Reimer had a bit of luck. Two plays where the Islanders thought they had scored goals did not count after review, and Michael Grabner shot high and wide on a penalty shot in the first period.

But Kadri, who had 15 minutes 46 seconds of ice (fewer than seven other Leafs forwards), ensured the Leafs won thanks to his statement performance.

“I felt all right,” Reimer said. “Not as good as I would have liked. One of those games where you have to battle for the whole time and hope that you get enough pieces of the pucks to keep your team in it. It was unfortunate to give up a two-goal lead, but the guys held strong.”

Kadri puts on a show against Islanders

Scores first NHL hat trick, Phaneuf wins it in OT

James Reimer returned to the Maple Leafs crease on Thursday night, all set to lead his teammates to victory.

But like everyone else on the ice wearing a white Leafs sweater against the New York Islanders, Reimer had just a bit role in what quickly became the Nazem Kadri Show.

In a brief scrum with reporters at 5 p.m., Kadri, who can be as blunt as he is confident, told those gathered that the match would be “a big statement game,” given the team’s slipshod performance a night earlier in Toronto against the Montreal Canadiens.

We didn’t know at the time that Kadri’s slick talent would be making the biggest statement in the form of a hat trick, the first one for a Leaf at Nassau Coliseum since Paul Henderson did it exactly 39 years earlier, on Feb. 28, 1974. And it was the first Leafs hat trick versus the Islanders anywhere since Oct. 14, 1978, when Darryl Sittler had one at Maple Leaf Gardens.